'Huge' number of local voter registration cards returned

By Liz Teitz

Updated
7:49 am CST, Friday, February 23, 2018

Thousands of Southeast Texas voters did not confirm their addresses to register to vote this spring, and hundreds requested mail-in ballots, lingering effects of Tropical Storm Harvey that could impact voter turnout.

Jefferson County had "huge numbers" of voter registration cards that were returned as undeliverable, a significant increase from the last election cycle, said Allison Nathan Getz, tax assessor-collector.

"Usually, after we get everything back, we might mail out 3,000 letters asking people to confirm their addresses. This year, we mailed out 7,900," she said.

The list of registered voters whose addresses are not verified has more than doubled since 2015, from 7,600 to about 18,000, she said.

People on that list will still be able to vote but will need to verify their addresses on election day. If they can't, they'll be able to vote provisionally and then prove their residency at the county's voter registrar office within six days of the election.

Getz said the locations with the largest numbers of returned cards were in Port Arthur, Northwest Forest and Bevil Oaks.

Orange County Elections Administrator Tina Barrow said her county also saw an increase in undeliverable registration cards, which she said may have been because people are displaced or have moved.

They've also seen a slight increase in requests for mail-in ballots from voters who are not living in the county but plan to return to their homes, she said.

Displaced residents who are temporarily living outside their home county but plan to return are still eligible to vote there if they registered by the deadline and were eligible to request absentee ballots as long as they have not also registered to vote in the county where they are staying.

As of Thursday afternoon, Hardin County Deputy Clerk Stacey Grimes had received more than 560 requests for absentee ballots, and Jefferson County Clerk Carolyn Guidry said she's seen an "enormous amount" of the applications.

Many of those are from senior citizens living with children or other family members and asking for ballots to be mailed to their temporary addresses, Guidry said. "They'll put on the application that they were displaced by Harvey."

About 2,400 Democrats and 700 Republicans requested Jefferson County absentee ballots, she said.

Guidry, who is uncontested in the Democratic primary to retain her position, said several contested elections seem to still be attracting attention, despite challenges in the storm's aftermath.

The three-way race for the Democratic nomination for the 172nd District Court, and Justice of Peace contests for Precinct 1 Place 2 and Precinct 8 are driving voters, she said, as well as the U.S. Senate race,

Turnout during the first few days of early voting has been low, which Guidry and Barrow both attributed to this week's rainy weather. It's too early to say if overall voter turnout will drop this year because of displaced voters, they said.

Several polling stations in all three counties were damaged during the storm and have been relocated. Jefferson County will have 39 stations open on Election Day, down from the usual 40 because the Port Arthur Library and the El Vista community center were damaged. The YMCA, which is not usually a polling place, will be used instead of the library, Guidry said.

Barrow said a few Orange County locations have been combined or relocated for the March 6 election because of damage, including the Mauriceville Methodist Church station, which has been moved to the Assembly of God Church. In Hardin County, voters who normally vote at Parkway Life Church and Lumberton Fire Station on Keith Road will vote at Woodcrest Methodist Church next month, Grimes said.